While SGA gave some student organizations thousands of dollars in allocations, others received nothing.

Student Government Association announced results from this semester’s budget allocations, a biannual process by which SGA distributes funds to student organizations after they apply and follow the guidelines provided.

This semester, 53 organizations submitted applied for allocations. Of those, 17 received all of what they requested, 27 received part of what they requested and nine received nothing.

Some organizations paid attention to the process but did not get all that they requested, including Jazz Club. Bryce Eastwood, music senior and Jazz Club president, said the club turned in all paperwork on time.

They requested $10,000 and got $6,500.

“I’m for the most part satisfied with the amount we got,” Eastwood said. “Our reputation has gone up in the past semesters. We have many active members and have three artists coming up to our meetings this semester, so I do feel we give good use to the money we get.”

Eastwood said he can understand why the club did not receive all the money they requested.

“There are a lot of organizations requesting for money, and we did get pretty much all of what we asked for,” he said.

The Loyola chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana did not receive any money. Josh Warren, political science sophomore and NORML president, said he was disappointed and confused as to why SGA didn’t give the organization money.

“This is the first time we’ve applied for money allocations, and I thought we’d done a pretty good job with our paperwork. I even brought it on time,” Warren said. “I think it’s stupid that some organizations get all the money, and many others don’t get anything at all.”

NORML requested $1,610.

“We involve ourselves in more direct actions, such as going to protests and providing awareness. We wanted to get a megaphone, bringing guest speakers and money for merchandising products which would make others more aware of our club,” Warren said.

In the past, Warren said the organization has worked with Tulane’s NORML for fundraising events, so they will continue to do so to raise money for the club.

“It’s going to be really difficult not having anything to start with, but hopefully everything will work out in the end,” he said.

Possible reasons as to why some organizations received no funding are a lack of sufficient documentation for expenses and turning in a hand-written budget allocations packet, said Brian Gibbons, finance senior and SGA finance director.

Other organizations had funding cut due to other reasons besides failure to follow the instructions stated in the allocations packet, he said.

According to Gibbons, organizations were given certain amounts of money based on what bracket, or economic priority tier, in which they requested funding. These brackets came with a set of requirements, such as listing expense totals for the organization’s planned events, which some of the organizations neglected to do.

“For the top bracket, only the top two priorities would be funded, no more than $5000 of honorarium per organization would be funded, and only five registrations per event would be funded,” he said.

Other clubs received everything they requested. The Swing Dance Club received the $500 they requested.

“The process was really quick for us,” said Tom Gillis, philosophy sophomore and Swing Dance Club president. “A week after the deadline, the SGA announced our application had been approved.”

Although this was the club’s first time applying for budget allocations, Gillis didn’t expect to get less than what he asked for.

“We don’t really require a lot money,” he said. “Since SGA won’t fund for things such as performing outfits, which we pay for through membership fees, the only need we had for this semester was to get how-to videos and some guest instructors. We’re also planning to have a flash mob really soon, and a masquerade ball for next semester.”

Gillis said by filling out forms with special care and by being mindful of the restrictions SGA has, organizations may get at least some of what they asked for.

“Reevaluate your needs,” Gillis said. “Sometimes people request for things that look unnecessary, so rework on what you need and remember to describe well the events you’re planning for.”

Judith Corro can be reached at [email protected]

Kamaria Monmouth contributed to this article. She can be reached at [email protected]